by Salem Hassabala, reporter

 

With the new universal credit system there are concerns 3.2 million working families could be affected by the changes.  

That would mean the average family will lose £48 a week – around £2,000 a year – compared with the old system  

Another stinging criticism of the new system is the length of time it will take to implement by the government, which won’t be ready for another 5 years despite being prepared since 2010. 

Tory politician Iain Duncan Smith, the man heralded as the architect behind Universal Credit, demanded an extra £2 billion to be made available to the new benefits system earlier this month.  

That caused outrage, and that news is certainly not helped with the accusation that pensions secretary Esther McVey has not been sympathetic to the hardships caused by universal credit policy.  

Who will be better or worse off? 

This is obviously the big question everybody is asking and again the spotlight rests on Esther McVey. She admitted that some working families could lose as much as £200 a month, reiterating that it would be the most vulnerable families that would be protected.  

Some families may even have to take on more work to increase their income.  

The losses for some families are expected to be between £25 to £75 a week.  

Which is again a lot of money for families, especially lone parent families to lose. 

What other impact will universal credit have?  

There are glaring financial difficulties with the system.  

For one, vulnerable groups often find they do not have enough savings to last until their first payment. 

There is also a correlation between areas where food bank use has increased following the introduction of Universal Credit. Fundamentally, if Universal Credit is not being paid, there is a risk of this becoming a national trend.